Preview: Busan IPark vs Chungju Hummels

It feels like forever since I've posted a proper article here on KLU. The new(ish) job has been crazy busy the past week or so, and unfortunately that meant posting had to be put on hold. But, there's time now to get a preview up for this Sunday's match against Chungju Hummels, and catch up on all the other action that's happened with the senior side, R League side, and U18 team.

Who: Busan IPark vs Chungju Hummels

When: May 15, 2015 4pm KST

Where: Busan Asiad Main Stadium

Why: K League Challenge Round 10

Stream: Naver, Daum, Afreeca

Team News

Choi Young-joon should have a close to full-strength side available for the match against Chungju. Captain Lee Won-young served his one-match suspension against Anyang, and will be available again. No other player picked up a suspension for yellow card accumulation or being sent off. The one mystery seems to be goalkeeper Lee Chang-geun who has disappeared from the last two matchday rosters. Presumably he picked up a knock somewhere along the way. That or he's really gotten on Choi Young-joon's bad side. Goo Sang-min has seemingly become the club's number 1 between the sticks, and Kim Hyung-geum got the nod for the Busan derby midweek. No official announcement from the club on his status, so I guess we'll just see.

Choi still does not seem to have a set midfield, but he does seem to slowly be finding his preferred defense and attack. Lee Won-young and Cha Young-hwan are the two centerbacks, Kim Dae-ho is set on the right. Left back seems to be the only still experiment with Yoo Ji-hoon the usual choice, but Goo Hyun-joon has finally started to get time as well. Samuel seems to have faded to the R League squad.

Popp and Stojanovic seem to be gelling a bit, and I think they will continue to start. Left midfield/forward is the only spot left. It seems an ideal spot for Ko Kyung-min, but Choi doesn't seem entirely convinced. Jung Seok-hwa seems to be coming back into the frame, and Jeon Hyun-cheol also is getting minutes here and there.

Midfield remains the big problem with none of the current players really nailing down a place. Lee Yeong-jae seems the most consistent, and Lee Gyu-seong remains a Choi favorite. Unfortunately Japanese import Daigo has not really settled, and was quite poor against Anyang last weekend. Lee Chung-woong, despite his 'Bridge of Busan' title, has not entirely convinced as a holding midfielder. We shall see if he completely changes things up again.

Chungju Hummels

They sit 10th in the table, but in reality are the Challenge's worst side as Gyeongnam would be above them if they hadn't received the 10 point penalty. 1 win, 1 draw, and 6 losses is Chungju's record this season. Their only win thus far came against our last opponent (Anyang), who they beat 1-0. Their draw (slightly surprisingly) came in the season opener against Seoul E-Land.

Chungju's problem certainly seems to be more on the defensive end. They've conceded 12 goals in 8 games which is second-worst in the league (Goyang with 13 conceded is the worst). They've only kept two clean sheets thus far, in their win and draw.

R League Update

Not much to report on the R League front. The team hasn't played since the 4-1 pasting Jeonbuk reserves handed them on April 26. Their next match is on May 17 against Daejeon reserves.

U18 (Gaesung HS)

After a very rough start to the campaign, the U18 side has picked up two wins on the bounce. Knocking off Pohang POSCO High School 2-1 and then Daejeon Citizen U18 1-0. Like the senior side they will face Chungju Hummel U18 next.

Busan Derby

I'd be remiss not to say something brief about the midweek FA Cup match. A comfortable win in the end, but we finally got the first meaningful Busan derby! And we nicked the crown of first intercity derby (since the league's decentralization policy) from Suwon and Seoul as far as I know. Lee Won-young, Ko Kyung-min, and Lee Yeong-jae scored versus the hipster club bus boys from the south part of the city. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem the city itself grabbed onto the magic and thrill of an intercity derby, as the attendance looked pretty pathetic on the stream the club provided (but cheers to the club for actually providing some stream). Maybe one day, the city will wake again (probably when the team is winning again).

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